San Francisco residents will start seeing five wooden dragon statues across the city starting Sunday, the first day of a Chinese Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco public art project.  

The statues — Blue and White Porcelain, Heavenly Jade, Ping An, Rainbow and Good Luck Dragons — will remain installed through early March.  

Official digital designs of the five dragon statues are featured on the Chinese Parade’s website. (Screenshot via chineseparade.com)

The Heavenly Jade Dragon, designed by Stephanie Tsao, will live at Thrive City at 1725 Third Street in San Francisco, Calif.  Tsao is a Chinese-Japanese-American artist from the Bay Area. She was the designer of the 2022 Prosperity Rabbit installed in front of the Asian Art Museum, the 2021 Wealth and Health Tiger displayed in Portsmouth Square and the 2020 Happy 牛 Year ox statue featured at San Francisco International Airport. 

San Francisco native Donna Lau designed the Ping An Dragon statue, located at 3251 20th Avenue near the Stonestown Galleria. The colors and patterns on the dragon are meant to reflect Lau’s memories of 15-day Lunar New Year activities from her childhood. The Ping An Dragon is sponsored by Lexus.  

The Blue and White Porcelain Dragon will be placed on Union Square at the intersection of Geary Street and Powell Street in San Francisco, Calif. It is sponsored by Alaska Airlines and was created by artist Qinghui Ji. She also designed the Chinese New Year parade float for Meta in the 2023 San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade. 

Local artist Steph Mufson designed the Rainbow Dragon statue, which will sit at Lucky Supermarket at 1515 Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco, and the Gold Luck Dragon, which will be at Rose Pak Station, 943 Stockton Street, San Francisco. Mufson’s Rainbow Dragon statue is sponsored by Lucky California, while her Gold Luck dragon statue is sponsored by Sky River Casino.  

The display will end on Saturday, March 2, after which the statues will be auctioned off, according to Chinese New Years Festival and Parade website. Proceeds from the auction will go to three organizations — API Legal Outreach, Asian Women’s Shelter and Charity Cultural Services Center. API Legal Outreach provides culturally and linguistically appropriate legal representation and related services to those in need. Charity Cultural Services Center provides vocational training to immigrants and low-income San Franciscans. Asian Women’s Shelter is a domestic violence service group operating in the Bay Area. 

The dragon statues will also be the subject of a photography contest. Winners will receive a dragon pin, a festival t-shirt, a $50 Gift card to Lucky Supermarket and a Golden State Warriors promotional item. Participants must be at least 13 years old and have an active Instagram or Facebook account.

Lunar New Year celebrations across the Bay Area

The final day of the 32nd Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Lunar New Year Bazaar began at 10 a.m. at Ninth Street and Franklin Street. The Bazaar ended at 5 p.m. and aimed to highlight cultural traditions, art, and food from Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and other cultures that celebrate the Lunar New Year, according to the organization’s website. 

Children’s Fairyland held their annual Lunar New Year celebration today starting at 10 a.m. Their kid’s parade was at 11:20 a.m., and UC Berkeley’s Vietnamese Student Association had Lion Dance performances at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m., according to the venue’s website. Children’s Fairyland is at 699 Bellevue Avenue in Oakland, Calif., beside Lake Merrit.  

The San Francisco Ferry building held its Lunar New Year event beginning at 11 a.m. The event included lion dancers and a pop-up calligraphy demo. Chung Ngai Lion Dancers performed outside the Marketplace from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., according to the ferry building website. The venue is located at 1 Ferry Building in San Francisco, Calif.  

The Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce held the Oakland Little Saigon New Year’s Festival at Clinton Park from noon to 4 p.m. The event included Lion Dance, Ao Dai Singers, a Vietnamese artist, local artisans, and food vendors, according to the event’s Eventbrite page. Clinton Park is located at 655 International Boulevard in Oakland, Calif.